1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a method of teaching piano by the use of guides created by a template; and to a template for creating such guides.
2. Background Art
For years, piano teachers have sought to create ways to make it easier for students to learn the correlation between the sheet music and playing the keys which will produce the music. This has led them to develop music aids for the learning process, which seek to reduce the complexity of the piano by introducing physical devices in that process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,083 teaches the use of templates that are placed over piano keys as an aid in learning how to play. See FIG. 1 of this patent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,070 teaches placing cover strips over keys with display elements on the keys to teach students to play the keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,008 teaches overlays on piano keys as a device for learning music. The covered overlay on the keyboard enables one to visualize, but not play the piano. U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,238 teaches a musical notation for keyboard instruments where a mark is placed on the keys.
Musical slide rules have also been designed, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,522 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,796. These are not placed on the keyboard, but do show scales. Thus, they are designed to teach a relationship between the board and scales. These are not users' tools in the sense that they do not teach people how to play.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,347,950 discloses a chart for teaching the piano that goes behind the keyboard. Fingers from the chart come out over the white keys and are colored to correspond to colored notes in the music.